ANALYSIS: The Brussels EU summit narrowed, but clarified, the options facing Taoiseach Brian Cowen after the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, writes
Patrick Smyth .
ANALYSIS: Declan Ganley says the organisation will comply with the law on disclosing sources of political funding. However, under the law, the public is entitled to know virtually nothing, writes
Colm Keena
IRELAND AND the European Union are in a great mess following rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in last Thursday's referendum. The costly political consequences of the decision, mostly ignored or disregarded during the campaign, are rapidly becoming apparent. Ireland faces extremely troubling choices concerning our future relationship with the rest of the European Union and its member-states. They recognise Ireland's sovereign right to reject the treaty but do not accept that the reforms it contains should be abandoned, even if legally the treaty can only be implemented unanimously.
SOUTH KOREA: South Korean truckers extended their strike yesterday over high fuel costs, adding to President Lee Myung-bak's woes, but a threatened major anti-government protest fizzled out.
LISBON OUTCOME: DESPITE WIDESPREAD support among the Irish public for Ireland's membership of the European Union and even more widespread appreciation of the benefits that have accrued to Ireland from that membership, on Friday 13th of June, 2008 it emerged that the Irish electorate, or more precisely, the 53 per cent of the electorate that voted, had rejected the Treaty of Lisbon (by 53.4 to 46.6) just as they had done in 2001 to the Treaty of Nice. Why?
CELEBRATION PARTY: "NO ONE SAID it was going to be easy, but we got there in the end," said one No camp supporter as he and his People's Movement colleagues last night raised their glasses in jubilation and reflected on a job well done, writes
Steven Carroll .
Ignoring a suggestion to spoil their ballots, young voters elect to keep the debate rockin', writes
Róisín Ingle at the interactive web debate, Google HQ, Blanchardstown, Dublin.
There was no stopping Mary Coughlan as she swept through Donegal yesterday canvassing for a Yes vote, writes
Seán Mac Connell with Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, campaigning in Donegal.
THE REFERENDUM on the Lisbon Treaty is heading towards defeat, according to findings of the latest
Irish Times /TNS mrbi opinion poll published today. There is a dramatic shift in public opinion towards a No vote, with majorities in most age groups now opposed to the treaty on the grounds of safeguarding Ireland's identity and neutrality and their poor understanding of the issues.
It's not simply an Irish issue - the gap between Europe's citizens and what they know about the Lisbon Treaty is a big one, writes
Jamie Smyth , European Correspondent, in Brussels.
ANALYSIS: Peace has broken out between Fianna Fáil and the main Opposition parties after an acrimonious few days centring around the Lisbon campaign, writes
MARK HENNESSEY .
OPINION: Irish influence in Brussels is leveraged most by our diplomats and by skilled negotiating - not opposing for the sake of opposing, writes
Brigid Laffan
The proposed world trade agreement is not linked to the Lisbon Treaty but could yet bring it down in the referendum,
Jamie Smyth , European Correspondent explains why
OPINION: Lisbon will make the EU more effective and more democratic. It is the result of years of negotiations between 27 democratic governments. Just because we can vote No doesn't mean we should, writes
JOHN BRUTON .
WORLD VIEW: THE WORD empire is often thrown around in debates about the nature and policies of the European Union, especially by opponents of the Lisbon Treaty during the current referendum campaign, writes
PAUL GILLESPIE .
OPINION: The IDA strongly supports the Lisbon Treaty because the single market is vital to attracting future foreign direct investment, writes
JOHN DUNNE .
OPINION: The new treaty cannot override long-established foreign and security policies - but it is crucial we remain at the heart of Europe, writes
Joe Costello
ANALYSIS: SINN FÉIN has invested much in the Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign: 500,000 leaflets, hours upon hours of effort, and careers hanging upon the result.
Lisbon would turn Ireland into a province or region of an EU superstate and make us citizens of it first rather than of our Republic, writes
ANTHONY COUGHLAN .
CAMPAIGN LAUNCH - Fianna Fáil: OPPONENTS OF the Lisbon Treaty are trying to confuse voters and pull Ireland back from close involvement in the EU, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said.
Lisbon is not about militarising the EU but the time will come when we in Ireland should have a long debate about what role we are willing to play in defending Europe, writes
Col Dorcha Lee
WORLD VIEW: It was mainly official Ireland that learned these lessons between the two Nice referendums. In fact, the No vote as a proportion of the electorate reduced from 21 to 19 per cent between the referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty in 1998 and Nice 1, and then to 18 per cent in Nice 2 - predominantly the same people. It made all the difference that turnout increased from 34 to 49 per cent between the two Nice votes. That extra half million voters were nearly all Yes supporters, mobilised by a much more effective campaign, both politically and from civil society, writes
Paul Gillespie
ANALYSIS: An absence of Ministers supporting Dick Roche's 'Vote Yes' plea on Lisbon has left the running to a diverse, at times conflicting, No campaign
ANALYSIS : Part II: If ratified, the Lisbon Treaty will change the European Union's voting system and the way Ireland is represented in EU institutions. It will also involve changes to the rotating presidency of the EU and establish a new position of president
ireland.com count centre
46.6%
YES
53.4%
NO
The Lisbon Treaty Poll
Do you think the public is sufficiently informed on The Lisbon Treaty?